Monday, October 25, 2010

The Last Week Starts

The Last Week Starts

The gears shift in Iowa City as the four week run of campus-focused, petition-required satellite voting sites comes to an end (there's just one campus site left, the IMU on Friday) and voting moves to the traditional sites at the Public Library and University Hospitals.

The road gets steeper for the 19 bar supporters, as the old voter registration deadline (now called the "pre-reg" deadline) passed on Saturday. Registration now requires ID and proof of address (moves within counties are still fill-out-a-form easy, though) So the bar question comes down to, do the 19 people have enough votes in the bank yet? And how many crazies like me are there who see this as a rights issue rather than a "public health" issue?

Whatever the case, it's sure to be a busy week and the People's Republic, and I don't see downtown Iowa City types and UIHC faculty-staff being especially Branstad-friendly. (We have long memories here.)

Speaking of voting, Matt Schultz not only doesn't want you to vote, he doesn't do much of it himself:

Although he’s running to serve as Iowa’s Secretary of State and commissioner of elections, candidate Matt Schultz failed to cast a ballot in a number of federal, state, and local elections over the past 10 years.

Schultz even failed to vote after filing papers to run for Secretary of State. (1)

According to his voting record, Schultz did not vote in any of the following elections:

That 2002 primary that Matt missed included a razor-close GOP gubernatorial contest that almost went to convention, and the 5th Congressional District contest that did (and that convention inflicted Steve King on us). The 2008 GOP primary had a very close US Senate race on the Republican side.

Release continues:

“As our commissioner of elections, the Secretary of State not only oversees the voting process but is responsible for encouraging Iowans to be civically engaged. If Matt Schultz can’t even bother to vote in federal, state, and local elections, I’m not sure he will have the credibility to carry out that important responsibility,” Iowa Democratic Party Chairwoman Sue Dvorsky said.

In comparison, Secretary of State Michael A. Mauro has over 25 years of experience administering elections in Iowa and has voted in all local, state, and federal elections during that time period.

For the record, I've missed one in 20 years in Iowa: the uncontested 1992 Iowa City school board race that saw turnout below one percent. (I was campaign staffing in Cedar Rapids at the time and remember driving home very late and realizing "oh crap! I forgot to vote!")

When you are voting (if you haven't yet) don't forget the judges. Polls say it's close. Bleeding Heartland says the "Judge Bus" will backfire by linking the No effort to "the out-of-state groups bankrolling the campaign against the judges" and "politicians outside the mainstream in Iowa." (coughVanderplaats!cough)

What else I got here... Press-Citizen offers a lukewarm Loebsack endorsement while still pining for Jim Leach. Seriously. In the first freakin' sentence.